SUMMARY
Michael P. Halasy, D.H.Sc., M.S., P.A.-C., is interested in workforce and behavior research. He primarily investigates quality improvement in care delivery through a study of audit and feedback (AF) interventions.
Dr. Halasy aims to understand provider well-being and burnout, and shared decision-making. He also has an interest in economics, primarily provider productivity analysis. The underlying goal of his research is to improve provider and patient satisfaction, utilize evidence-based care, and increase productivity, resulting in better clinical outcomes. He also has a specific goal of using normalization process theory frameworks to better embed and normalize AF interventions in care delivery.
Focus areas
- Dr. Halasy is part of an international team being led by Canadian doctor Noah Michael Ivers, M.D., Ph.D., performing an updated Cochrane review of AF interventions from the past eight years. They are currently abstracting data.
- Using MGMA data, Dr. Halasy leads a team to evaluate productivity trends across provider types using a multivariate analysis including specialty, location, practice type and more. The team is currently evaluating data.
- Dr. Halasy is leading a team working together with Bijan J. Borah, Ph.D., and his team at Mayo to evaluate economic and clinical efficiency of telemedicine or virtual visits in outpatient spine care. They are creating the dataset and protocol.
- As a member of Mayo's Employee and Community Health Practice research workgroup led by Thomas (Tom) D. Thatcher, M.D., Dr. Halasy is evaluating patient outcomes and utilization of services by provider type. The group is currently finishing two studies.
- Along with Tait Shanafelt, M.D., and the American Academy of Physician Assistants, Dr. Halasy is part of a team that examines longitudinal burnout outcomes. He is leading an evaluation of burnout on career specialty change and currently creating the protocol.
- Dr. Halasy is part of a team that created a shared decision-making tool for the treatment of cervical or lumbar radiculopathy in primary care. He and his team are currently seeking funding to finish tool validation and deployment.
Significance to patient care
While there has been much attention to the care that patients receive as well as patient outcomes, the medical community has not always dedicated a lot of effort to evaluating provider behavior, communication, productivity, evidence-based care adherence and quality metrics. New research fields have been developed to evaluate this, but technological advances have both improved and worsened this situation.
Dr. Halasy's goal is to improve provider satisfaction, decrease burnout, improve productivity, improve decision-making and communication, embed or normalize feedback interventions to reduce care variation, reduce costs, and most importantly, improve quality and clinical outcomes.
Professional highlights
- Editorial board member, Proceedings: Innovation, Quality, and Outcomes, Health Economics Section Editor, Mayo Clinic, 2019-present
- Co-founder, Interdisciplinary Spine Research Committee, Mayo Clinic, 2017-present
- Section member, Interdisciplinary Care Section, North American Spine Society, 2016-present